Wideband and Dual-Band High-Gain Substrate Integrated Antenna Array for E-Band Multi-Gigahertz Capacity Wireless Communication Systems

A dual-slot feeding structure is used in the design of a two-layer E-band substrate integrated array antenna to realize the wideband or dual-band characteristic. Several metallic vias, which are equivalent to open-ended air-filled circular waveguides, are fabricated through printed circuit board process to form wideband radiating elements. They are fed by a parallel substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) feeding network underneath these radiating elements to obtain a compact configuration. First of all, a single antenna element is modeled and investigated to recognize the characteristics of the feeding dual-slot and the radiation via. Then, a 16×16 high-gain wideband array antenna is fabricated. Its measured |S₁₁|<;-10 dB bandwidth is 10.5%, and measured realized gain is in the range of 28.2-30.7 dBi within the same bandwidth. Maximal total radiation efficiency is measured to 61.7%. After that, a dual-band 8 8 array antenna is designed and fabricated as well. Its measured |S₁₁|<;-10 dB bandwidths are 70.6-72.4 GHz and 80.8-82.2 GHz, and measured realized gains are 24.2-25.2 dBi and 24.6-25.8 dBi, respectively. Maximal total radiation efficiency is measured to 72.4%. Considering its wide-band, high-gain and compact configuration, this type of substrate integrated antenna array presents an excellent candidate for E-band multi-gigahertz capacity wireless communication systems.